Safety rod for folding gates



Aug. 29, 1950 w. TURNER SAFETY ROD FOR FOLDING GATES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 12, 1947 Indentor Lestezflicrrzez;

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Aug. 29, 1950 L. w. TURNER SAFETY ROD FOR FOLDING GATES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 12, 1947 Patented Aug. 29, V 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY ROD FOR FOLDING GATES Lester W. Turner, Phoenixville, Pa.

Application June 12, 1947, Serial No. 754,180

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful safety rod for folding gates such as employed at doorways or at the head of a flight of stairs, having passages of varying widths, to act as barriers to the entrance or exit of persons, especially children. Such gates are particularly useful in keeping children within an enclosed area, such as a porch, and are designed to prevent children from falling down the stairs which might result in serious injury.

These gates are rather flimsy or flexible and the weight of even a small child will cause them to bow outward and leave an opening over a step through which a child could fall and possibly roll down the whole flight of steps.

Therefore, one of the essential objects of the invention is to provide means attachable to a folding or collapsible gate to brace the latter when extended or in its closed position relative to the passageway, in connection with which it is employed, and prevent the gate from being bowed outward by the weight of a child or any item that might contact the inside of said gate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety rod in combination with a folding or collapsible gate whereby the rod will be automatically actuated with the; movements of the gate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rod having hinged sections to swing up and down with the movements of the gate and a telescoping section to slide out and in for the amcommodation of extra Wide opening extension of said gate.

A further object of this invention is to provide means on the rod for cooperation with two separate elements on the gate for locking said rod in a horizontal position when the gate is, closed or extended and for initiating the breaking movement of the rod. as the opening or collapsing of the gate is started.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will'describeits construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of a conventional folding or collapsible gate in closed or extended position showing my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a top edge or plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view when the gate is partially opened.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the gat completely opened or collapsed.

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are enlarged fragmentary views of parts of the gate and safety device illustrating diagrammatically several positions of the apparatus.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied HI represents, generally, a folding or collapsible gate which is adjustable as to length to fit door or th r op n n s or pa sa ewa s o varying sizes and said gate includes a flexible po tion I I and rigid supporting end bars l2 and I3 coupled together.

The flexible portion of the gate is of a Downlazy-ton type compos d of rossed i l d slats pivotally connected together by rivets or equiva,- lent fastening means in the usual manner so as to provide for expansion and contraction and consequent adjustability of the gate.

The supporting end bars are pivotally coupled or connected with the flexible portion in any suitable or well known manner and the end 11 -1 12 is the outer or movable bar while the end i3 is the inner bar which is usually fastened or connected in a, fixed location, as to a. door jam-b or post. The outer 0r movable end bar 12 is shift.- able from and to the end bar l3 ior closi and opening the gate and said end bar 12 may be temporarily fastened to the opposite door lamb or another post for holding the gate closed.

The safety rod 14 has its ends pivotally con,- nected at l5 and 16 to the outer or movable end bar I2 and the inner or stationary end bar 1:3. respectively, and is composed of three sections l1, l8 and IS. The outer and intermediate sections I! and I8, respectively, are, preferably, metal tubes and the inner section I9 may be tubular or solid as desired. The sections H and :18 are hinged together at their meeting ends by a. hinge 20 on the under side .so that the joint breaks upwardly and the sections l8 and t9 are telescopically or slidably mounted. relative to'each other.

On one of the sections, as H, of the safety rod I4 is fixed a pendant leg H, as by welding the two together, and said leg has a posterior arcuate cam surface .or edge '22 and an anterior angular locking surface or edge 23-. Both the cam and locking surfaces are alternately engaged by cam and locking pins 24 and 25, respectively, or equivalent means, mounted on the flexible portion H of the gate in proper locations to accomplish the results desired which will be presently fully described. Said cam and locking pins are actually fixed to separate slats of the flexible portion of the gate with the locking pin 25 ahead other.

During the operationof closing or extending the ate across "a doorway or other passage, the hinged sectionsII and I8 of the safety rod M will swing downward until the hinged meeting ends actually abut each other and prevent further downward movement. During this downward movement of the safety rod the leg 2! will first engagethe cam pin 24, Fig. 5, then enter between said pins and ride under the locking pin 25, Fig. 6, thus pre-" venting the safety rod from being lifted until such time as the gate is unfastened and started towards its open or collapsed position, This keeps a child from reaching'the safety rod and lifting it sufficiently to permit the lower part of the flexible portion of the gate" to bow outward or pull the lower end of the outer end bar I2 away from'the object-to which it i's'te'rnporarily" fastened and thereby form'an opening throughwhioh a child might squeeze.

The hinged sections of the safet rod are, generally,-of such lengths that they will assume the horizontal locked position when the'gate is closed across'the narrowest passage with which said gate is 'us'ed, therefore the parts areso' located relativet'o-one another or timed that the leg will engage'the cam pin 24, pass between the cam and locking pins and then under the latter as the gatereaches its shortest full closing position. The gate can beexpandeda greater distan'ce'because the safety rod section Hi can slide outwardly '4 I As soon as the hinged joint is broken the continued collapsing or opening movements of the gate will cause the safety rod to fold up along with the gate into small and compact size.

It is to be remembered that the safety rod is to be installed on what is generally termed the outside or opposite to the side facing the enclosed area but this depends entirely upon which way the bowing action is to he stayed.

;From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a simple and durable safety rod for gates which is fully automatic in connection with the movements of the gate.

Of course I do not wish to be limited by the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these ma be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. A folding gate comprising rigid upright end members and an intermediate flexible portion pivotally connected to said end members, a safety relative to the section is as thegate is extended,

as-shown in Figs. l a nd2, and during this-further extension of the gate the relative locations ofthe leg, cam-and locking'pins will change but said locking 'pin' will be in the path of upward swinging travel of said leg even though they should not be in actual engagement with each other.';

When" the gate is to be opened and collapsed or contracted, the outer 'end bar I2 is moved'towards the inner end bar'I3 and, if the gate is open to such an extent that the section I8 is any dis-, tance outward relative to the section 19, the section I8 will be telescoped or slid'inward on the sectionlil until the section I8 comes to a stop. At the end of the extreme inward movement of the section'ls there should'be a buffer 26 ahead of the'pivot l6'to prevent the latter from beingsheared' off by repeated contact of the section I8 therewith.

After'the safety rod sections I8 and I9 have been contracted or are in that-condition orig inally and'tlie .gate' is then or further-opened or collapsed, the movements of the flexible portion of the gate will move the locking pin towards the terminal of the leg 2| and finally past or below said leg. After the locking pin has reached a position that it cannot interfere with the leg 2|,

the cam pin 24 moves into engagement with the cam surface 22 of said leg 2|, Fig. 7, and'im parts an initial upward swinging movement to said leg and the hinged sections of th safety rod.

rod pivotally connected to the end members and including a pair of hinged sections and a third section slidably connected to one of the other sections, said hinged sections adapted to move downward until in a horizontal position as the gate is extended and then slide relative to the third section as the gate is extended farther a leg depending from one of the hinged sections and having a posterior'arcuate cam surface and an anterior angular locking surface, a, locking pin on the flexible portion of the gate to be disposed above the locking surface when the gate is extended sufiiciently to move the safety rodinto a horizontal position, and a cam pin also on the flexible portion of the gate and so located as to engage the cam surface as the gate is contracted to initiate an upward movement of the leg and the hinged sections of the safety rod. 2. A folding gate comprising rigid supporting end members and an intermediate'flexible portion pivotally connected to said supporting end members, a safety rod pivotall connected to said supporting end members and including a pair of hinged sections which will assume a horizontal position as the I supporting end members are moved apart, a leg depending from one of said sections, said leg having an arcuate cam surface, means on the flexible portion of saidgate to contact the cam surface as the gate is folded to initiate an upward movement of the sectional safety rod, said leg also having an angular locking surface, and locking pin means-on the flexible portion of the gate and disposed above the locking surfaceof the leg when the gate is extended suf ficiently to cause the safety rod to assume the horizontal position. I

' LESTER W. TURNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

